enz

Do you think that turning up to the courthouse wearing a MAGA hat would be enough to be excused Jury duty? Another idea occurs - could Donald claim to empanel his own jury (selected on the basis that they are wearing MAGA hats), but of 20 members, say, and then declare that as his jury is bigger then he wins the court case? Should this be suggested to him?

Correct and brave to say it. cf my understanding of "the speech to the electors of Bristol" by Burke (I think), which basically was "I am your agent in Parliament, not your mouthpiece, so I will act in what I believe to be in your best interests given the information I have not necessarily what you may tell me". enz Edit: now I see I'm late to the debate - apologies.

It's the ten legs and primate-looking head (until you reach the fangs) on the AI spider that has me worried - is it a Maralinga variant? And as for the huntsman closeup, that may be tonight's nightmare subject taken care of, thank you! (Look at those fangs, just look at them!!!).

Yeah, but which God - Thanatos?

I'm not giving this info a "useful" rating as I really, really don't want to have to use it! Any desire to visit Aus again is taking a significant drop. From a snake-free NZ - enz

You could close the station (or part of it) to passengers and run it as a parcels and/or small consignments goods station. Perhaps have a passenger service in the day and all goods at night using one of the platforms for a limited passenger service or all three swapping function. If you assume that some of the stock are going to different destinations, either as trip workings or the nucleus of inter-city parcels or newspaper trains, you would be able to have some entertaining shunting, if that's your thing. Just a suggestion, but I think it could work to provide variety. Evan

Still dreaming of Mad Max as a Utopia, are you? (Being pursued by a bunch of Bikies and Kundalini who wants his hand back).

Hello, Boardpersons of Castle Aching. A couple of comments / questions on the plans for BA, if I may. Firstly, should you attempt to combine coal yard and sorting? As I understand it, the coal yard works with wagons that are placed and left because the merchants will be in those wagons unloading at any time of the day. They won't want to be told to clear off for long periods while the railway shuffles wagons around for it's own purposes - and a sorting yard is all about wagons being shuffled around for the railway's purposes. The miniature employees of the coal merchants will not appreciate attempts to merge the two if they are being told they have to empty a wagon which may suddenly move at any moment. Secondly, there's a lot trying to fit into BA. It's a four way junction and practically every train and every wagon passes through. That'll involve a lot of marshaling, and I'm not sure there is enough space to fit it within the visible section along with the passenger and goods facilities. So a suggestion - how about a 'virtual' marshaling yard just beyond the road bridge (in real terms another couple of cassette lines between the two coastal lines, replacing the carriage shed (I think it is)). Advantages are unlimited storage and easy train makeup for CA and Achingham, disadvantages are you don't see the wagons and you don't get to play with a shunter making up the train - but I recall that the Chair has observed that he's not really that much into goods operation and I suggest there will be plenty of shunting to do with the coal/shed/mileage sidings anyway. Hope it's acceptable to make these suggestions and they trigger thought rather than confusion. Regards - Enz.

You suggest that the hallowed game be sullied with such a second rate interest as politics? You have much to learn, youngling! ;)

Couldn't do that - it would have contaminated the English water supply - given that Welsh water is piped to Liverpool, etc, I believe. And c'mon, you can't blame the fallout for the wild wildlife. It was just that Mother Nature knew what was going to happen to her children on the continent and was doing her best to give the originals a fighting chance. Maybe they are trying to say something... ;). (From the 'little brother' country where the only venomous critters have been blown over from or imported from Australia. It's the geology that's out to get us. We've still got bits in Christchurch from 2011 where no one lives, the houses were demolished but the streets are still there. A two dimensional ghost town. We had a mag 6.0 reminder a few days ago.) Regards, enz

@The White Rabbit, I can't decide whether I rate your words of military wisdom above as funny, informative, thought-provoking, or pretty much all of the alternatives available on the like button. Where's the "all of 'em" button when needed. A thoroughly amused enz.

"Only?" Well, that's ok then..... Jeez, what is it with you lot - death wish? Aren't the Snakes/Spiders/Crocs/Sharks/Jellyfish/Stonefish/Plants enough?? Now you have to throw in diddly little invisible buggy virus thingies into the game for a bit of added excitement. Clearly not enough, Mr Bear. That's why Australia imported the Cane Toad.

Hi people (Warning: the following may be uncomfortable for persons currently identifying with the status 'unwell'. I have found that my sense of absurdity may unintentionally bother some people. Also, it contains many exclamation marks, some multiple. Terry Pratchett's warning may apply.) Read the quoted section over lunch and it's raised some thoughts. This could create some problems with treatments. If my doctor considers I am obese and that is causing medical issues, can they offer me treatments without telling me the reason - so much for informed consent ( and it wouldn't work anyway once I get back to Dr Google and find out what I have been prescribed is used for weight reduction). Alternatively, they could offer treatments for the symptoms rather than treat the cause, but that might be like giving me a paracetamol and a sticking plaster for a mangled leg, leaving me 'uncured' and them risking malpractice. But on the upside, it offers a wonderful solution to all the NHS issues I keep reading about on here. ALL illness diagnosis is discriminatory! There is no illness!! How dare you label people as 'ill' - you're being healthist and applying a discriminatory label!!! They should be allowed to continue with being 'differently-enabled-by-body/health' and no interference! Thus, no medical treatments are required! No NHS - no problems with it! No money needed for Western 'medicines' so no big Pharma - it keeps on getting better! (Come to think of it, employers will love this - no need for sick leave either!) Sorry you're going to be out of a job iL Dottore, but you're retiring anyway, aren't you? Think of all the medical personnel suffering from the stresses of their work - all gone! (Actually gone twice, since claims of 'stress' is itself discriminatory - I am 'differently-emotioned/differently-self_biochemically_functioned, thank you.) There's always a silver lining if you look hard enough. Regards, enz.

Subsidence? That would be an interesting thing to model in a mining area. Or in my case, possibly an excuse for the state of the model. Regards, Evan

And so a question on locomotives going uphill morphs into a discussion on trains going downhill. I know thread drift is a thing, it's the sheer opposite of theme that amuses me and I can't help but remark on it. - E